ZCZC
BSP-01
FBL-GER-BUNDESLIGA
Bayern plan to ditch ageing stars in wake of European exit
BERLIN, March 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Bayern are back on top of the
Bundesliga, but club bosses plan to clean out their ageing squad whose
shortcomings were brutally exposed by Liverpool in the Champions League.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds dumped Bayern out of Europe on Wednesday with a
deserved 3-1 return-leg win, handing Bayern a last-16 aggregate defeat by the
same margin, at the Allianz Arena.
“Bayern urgently need radical change to still challenge for titles,”
Germany’s daily Bild said — the lineup which lost to Liverpool had an
average age of 30.
German pundits agreed with ex-Bayern coach Louis van Gaal who late last
year said senior club bosses had “failed to renew the squad.”
Bayern had no answers as Sadio Mane took advantage of a mistake by 32-year-
old Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to score the opener from a near-
impossible angle before Liverpool defender Joel Matip netted an own goal to
put the hosts level.
Virgil van Dijk killed Bayern’s hopes with a crisp header before Mane again
breached the defence late on from a Mohamed Salah chip, leaving Bayern coach
Niko Kovac to concede his side deserved to lose.
Robert Lewandowski, 30, the Bundesliga’s top-scorer in 2018/19, failed to
score for the seventh straight match in the knock-out stages of Europe,
complained that Bayern were “too defensive”.
For the first time since 2011, the Bavarian giants have failed to make the
Champions League quarter-finals.
As Kovac glumly admitted, the German Cup and Bundesliga — at home to mid-
table Mainz on Sunday — are their focus now.
– Future targets –
A clean-out is coming anyway as wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery,
both 35, plus Brazilian right-back Rafinha, 33, are out of contract in June.
“So it’s only right that Bayern attack again with Hernandez, Pavard,
Hudson-Odoi and Werner,” continued Bild, specifying the players it feels
Bayern need.
France’s World Cup-winning defender Benjamin Pavard, 22, has already signed
to join Bayern from Stuttgart next season.
Bayern have reportedly made three offers for Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-
Odoi, 18, and are determined to get the England Under-19 forward.
Another potential target, Lucas Hernandez from Atletico Madrid, would
partner the imposing Niklas Suele at centre-back, meaning a pair of 23-year-
olds replacing Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, who are both now 30.
“Hummels and Boateng are prone to injury. Lucas, however, is a lot younger,
so this transfer would make a lot of sense,” said ex-Germany midfielder and
Sky pundit Lothar Matthaeus.
Timo Werner, 23, has a RB Leipzig contract until 2020, but extension talks
have stalled and the Germany striker is tipped to be set to join Munich as
Lewandowski’s replacement.
Last month, chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge outlined next season’s team.
“We’ve already completed stage one of the upheaval, the second will surely
come in the summer,” said the Bayern boss.
“We have (Joshua) Kimmich on the right, (David) Alaba on the left and Suele
in the middle of defence.
“In the midfield, (Leon) Goretzka has developed well with (Kingsley) Coman
and Serge Gnabry on the wings,” he added.
Canadian wunderkind winger Alphonso Davies, 18, is another option. He was
acquired last July in a $13 million (11.5 million euros) move from MLS side
Vancouver Whitecaps.
However, young talent must bed in quickly at Bayern, where standards are
high.
“We have no patience in the club and our fans have three times less. This
club wants to succeed,” warned Rummenigge.
“The expectation is huge and we want to do it justice.”
Second-placed Dortmund, who play Hertha Berlin away on Saturday without key
midfielder Axel Witsel, are level with Bayern on 57 points, and behind in the
title race only on goal difference.
Lucien Favre’s Dortmund face a showdown at the Allianz Arena on April 6,
but for Bayern a seventh straight Bundesliga crown would be a consolation
prize after flopping in Europe.
Fixtures (all times 1330 GMT unless stated)
Friday
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Freiburg (1930)
Saturday
Schalke v RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart v Hoffenheim, Augsburg v Hannover 96,
Wolfsburg v Fortuna Duesseldorf, Hertha Berlin v Borussia Dortmund (1730)
Sunday
Bayer Leverkusen v Werder Bremen (1230), Eintracht Frankfurt v Nuremberg,
Bayern Munich v Mainz (1700)
BSS/AFP/GMR/0931 hrs